Not For Broadcast

Not For Broadcast (abbreviated as "NFB" for simplicity) is an indie game by UK developers NotGames and published by TinyBuild in 2019. You play as the gender-neutral janitor Alex Winston, who accidentally becomes the new broadcast editor for the National Nightly News. As political tensions rise, you must decide what you'll show to the masses...

also you have a b-plot with your family and you need to decide what to do with them

It's the year 2020 and I was super into Election Year Knockout. That game got me into political satire, which did something to my Steam recommendations. That's where Not For Broadcast comes in. I saw the trailer, which I thought was cool, but then I neglected to wishlist it. I forgot about it ever since.

Timeskip to 2022. A friend re-introduced this game into my life. Looking back at the chatlogs now, he first brought up the game's title in July (when I wasn't doing so well mentally, so I didn't answer to it much), then again in August (felt a little bit better, more responsive to the idea).

It took those two tries to finally get on with playing the funny news game.

My first playthrough was technically a backseat with my friend. We named the game file "Cringemass" because it was the Christmas season when we finally played the game.

Then my former roommate dropped by and I had to spend the entire winter break with her instead. It wasn't that bad though.

My friend and I proceeded to forget about playing until I got mentally messed up again in February 2023. What horrible timing that we had to pick the game back up on a very crucial event, for it really hit close to home. It was at that point where I understood why the content warnings were there; I haven't been rendered a sobbing mess over a fictional character since I watched Good Boy! (2003) (to be fair, when I was watching that movie I was also in a bad state then.) I really wonder if I would have had the same reaction if I were more stable at the time.

also you have a b-plot with your family and you need to decide what to do with them

This game really pulled me out of a dark time. From listening to the OST for two weeks straight, to writing some self-insert fanfic with my favourite character, to joining the Discord server and meeting more cool people who like the game...this game made advances on me, and since then, I've been living in a paradise.

One of the most common complaints about this game is the double-edged replayability feature. While it is fun to make other choices to get different outcomes, sometimes you have to replay a level all over again for that to happen. And that's not considering your political alignment! And how your family reacts!

Not For Broadcast has a tight-knit community. The most action you can find is in their official Discord server, which I'm not linking because you gotta find it for yourself, sorry not sorry!

However, if you want content for which fandoms are typically known when you first hear the word, you can usually find them on Tumblr and Archive Of Our Own. There's a microscopic cohort on Twitter as of writing.

I have made a few contributions to the itty-bitty fandom. Such as fanfics, fanart, and discussions.

TBA